Tina Chang

"I am currently surrounded by diapers, squeaky toys, and crayons scattered at my feet. This is the life of a working writer/mother. So how does one find inspiration in all of this? A good majority of my time is spent tending to the delicate, magical, maddening, profound needs of my children, both under the age of two and a half years. After the day is done, after the children are asleep, and after I have eaten my one good meal of the day, I take a few deep breaths and I say to myself, 'Put on your shoes.' If I can put on my shoes and my coat, I can then walk the three blocks to the office I rent down the street. If I can note the change in the air, the moon that has decided to appear between the branches hanging sweetly overhead, the hipsters laughing with abandon in front of the bodega; if I can turn the key to my office door, and pour myself a cup of tea; if I can sit myself down at my desk, I’m most of the way there. If I then begin typing, I hear the sweet sounds of the keys and know I’m that much closer to writing a poem. Maybe most of it will be discarded. Maybe some of it will be rescued by the gods."—Tina Chang, author of Of Gods & Strangers (Four Way Books, 2011)